“Accountability Committee” means any Charter School Accountability Committee established by the Department to review and report to the Department as provided in Sections 511 and 515 of the Charter School Law.

“Annual Report” means a report submitted by the charter school to the approving authority, DDOE, and State Board of Education and posted publicly on the school’s website. The report shall contain the information and follow the prescribed format required by statute.

“Applicant” means a legal entity organized under the Delaware General Corporation Law that has applied to the Department for, but not yet received, a charter to operate a charter school, or the Renewal or modification of such a charter, as the context indicates.

“Audit” means an informal financial, programmatic, or compliance audit of a charter school.

“Charter Contract” means an agreement between the Authorizer and the Charter School. A school enters into a Charter Contract with the authorizer that clearly defines the respective roles, powers, and responsibilities for the school and approving authority and incorporates the provisions of the Performance Agreement.

“Charter Holder” means the legal entity organized under the Delaware General Corporation Law to which a charter is issued by the Department with the approval of the State Board.

“Charter School” means a non-home based full time public school that is operated in an approved physical plant under a charter granted by, or transferred to the Department with the approval of the State Board for the personal physical attendance of all students.

"Charter School Performance Fund" means a fund established pursuant to 14 Del.C. §509(m) with eligibility guidelines and criteria to evaluate applications developed by the Department. The Fund shall be subject to appropriation as outlined in Delaware Code.

“Delaware Comprehensive Assessment System (DCAS)” means the statewide assessment used to measure student achievement of the Delaware academic content standards, including an alternate assessment based on alternate achievement standards for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities.

“Department” means the Delaware Department of Education.

“Department’s Annual Charter Report” means a report prepared by the Department of Education for the Governor, General Assembly, and State Board of Education in accordance with statute that analyzes the performance, as measured by the Performance Framework, of all charter schools in the state. It also analyzes expenses as compared with traditional public schools, recommends changes in policy and innovative practices which can be replicated in other public schools. The report shall be presented on or before February 1st of each year and is posted on the Department’s public website.

“First Instructional Day” means the first day a Charter School is open with students in attendance.

“Formal Review” means the lawful investigation of a Charter School to determine whether the school is violating the terms of its charter. Formal reviews may include, but are not limited to, on site visits, inspection of educational records and other documents, and interviews of parents, Charter School employees and others with knowledge of the school’s operations and educational programs.

“Founding Board of Directors” means the Board of Directors of an Applicant at the time the original application for a charter is filed with the Department.

"High-Need Students" means students that qualify as low economic status pursuant to Department determination, to include Students with Disabilities and English Language Learners.

“Highly successful charter school operator” means a charter school with sustained high levels of student achievement and sustained financial stewardship. A highly successful charter school is one which has been in operation for at least three years and which, during the three years prior to filing a charter application in Delaware, has a combined student performance which exceeds the statewide average student performance in the state in which the highly successful charter school is located based upon that state’s performance score or measure on its statewide assessment for purposes of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) or any reauthorization thereof. In addition, during the same three year period the school must have had no adverse financial findings and successfully completed any required financial audits in the state in which it is located, and be able to demonstrate that it will be economically viable.

“Impact” means the positive and negative effect that a new charter school or charter school expansion, if it should be approved, is projected to have upon the surrounding area and the education system of the state. Information regarding Impact may, by itself or in combination with other factors, form the basis for conditions being placed on the approval of a new charter school or modification. Impact shall include educational, financial, and community information.

“Parent” means the natural or adoptive parent, or the legal guardian, of a student enrolled in the charter school. “Parent” also includes individuals authorized to act as Relative Caregivers under the provisions of 14 Del.C. §202(e)(2).

“Performance Agreement” means the document which describes the academic performance expectations, identifies economic viability requirements, defines organizational responsibilities, and outlines accountability of the Charter School. An approved Performance Agreement is for a specified term and uses a uniform format as prescribed by the Department with the assent of the State Board of Education. The Performance Agreement is enforceable as part of the school’s Charter Contract.

“Performance Framework” means a rubric based tool established by the Department with the assent of the State Board of Education, as amended from time to time, which contains the details, includes multiple measures, and is used by the Department to assess compliance with the Performance Agreement in the areas of academic performance, economic viability, organizational responsibilities and accountability of the Charter School. The completed frameworks will be provided to the Charter School Accountability Committee, Secretary and State Board of Education to inform their decision making.

“Performance Review” means the process by which the Charter School’s compliance with its Performance Agreement is evaluated annually to inform renewal, major modification and formal review decisions. Compliance with the charter and the Performance Agreement, as assessed through the Performance Framework, is the basis for the Performance Review. Analysis and results will be reported in the Department’s Annual Charter Report.

“Renewal” means the approval of an application to continue operating an existing Charter School occurs in accordance with 14 Del.C. §514A.

“Secretary” means the Secretary of the Delaware Department of Education.

“State Assessment System” means the statewide assessment used to measure student achievement of the Delaware academic content standards including an alternate assessment based on alternate achievement standards for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities, and other assessments such as, but not limited to, the National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP), a college readiness assessment, an assessment for English Language Learners (ELL), a norm-referenced assessment that may be administered or required as determined by the Department of Education.

4.2.1.3If the Applicant plans to adopt or use performance standards or assessments in addition to the standards set by the Department or the assessments administered pursuant to the State Assessment System, the application and performance agreement must specifically identify those additional standards or assessments and include a planned baseline acceptable level of performance, measurable goals for improving performance and a timetable for accomplishing improvement goals for each additional indicator or assessment. The use of additional performance standards or assessments shall not replace, diminish or otherwise supplant the Charter School’s obligation to meet the performance standards set by the Department or to use the assessments administered pursuant to the State Assessment System and must be incorporated into the Performance Agreement.

4.5.2.1 14 Del.C. Ch. 27 and applicable Department regulations regarding school attendance, including a plan to distribute attendance policies to each Charter School student at the beginning of each school year. Students who enroll after the beginning of the school year shall be provided with a copy of the attendance policy at the time of enrollment.

After July 1st of each year, pursuant to 14 Del.C. §513(a) each Charter Holder shall contract to have an audit of the business and financial transactions, records, and accounts of the school, in a form and manner satisfactory to the Department, and shall provide the audit results to the Department by October 1. Each Charter School shall display the audit on its public website.

9.4.3 An application to replace, remove or permit the school to operate without an educational management organization providing administrative, managerial or instructional staff or services to the charter holder at any time before the First Instructional Day.